Baltimore Mayor Martin O?Malley last week asked Gov. Robert Ehrlich to sign a letter to urge President Bush to support raising the federal minimum wage by $2.10 per hour.
Ehrlich declined.
O?Malley said raising the federal wage was a “matter of fairness” in the letter ? it?s not.
If fairness were the goal, wouldn?t O?Malley have pushed to raise the minimum wage in Baltimore?
Under Maryland law, the city has the right to raise the minimum wage ? which stands at $6.15 in the state, $1 more than the federal minimum wage.
But O?Malley has not pushed to raise it higher than the state minimum wage.
Why? Fairness, again.
O?Malley?s campaign spokesman Rick Abbruzzese said raising it in the city “would pit small businesses in the city against those in surrounding jurisdictions.”
That?s true. But doesn?t a higher state minimum wage pit Maryland against other states with lower minimum wages?
Is that fair to Maryland businesses who must compete with other businesses in states with lower minimum wages?
And if fairness is the goal, why should competition matter?
People still need to survive, regardless of whether they live in Baltimore City or surrounding counties, right? The fact is, the whole minimum wage debate is a sham, as columnist Walter E. Williams notes on the next page.
If O?Malley and the legislators who voted for the state raise really cared about making the minimum wage a so-called “living wage,” they would have hiked it to $10 or more if they wanted to feel smug about squeezing millions of working poor out of jobs. But they didn?t.
Just months ago, legislators railed against Wal-Mart for paying wages that made it impossible to purchase health insurance.
Wal-Mart pays its full-time workers an average of $9.97 per hour in Maryland, according to the company. That?s nearly $4 more than the state minimum wage.
First, as the Wal-Mart example shows, companies must pay higher than minimum wage to find and keep workers. This is how the U.S. market economy works.
Second, the idea that families must only exist off of minimum wage is a fallacy. Many low-income workers must hold more than one job to pay their bills. And do.
And third, who helps the workers who can?t find a job because a business can?t afford to hire people at a higher minimum wage?
Just because the state legislature mandates higher salaries doesn?t mean that businesses can afford to pay them.
Nationally, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2.7 percent of hourly workers hold jobs at or below minimum wage ? meaning the vast majority of workers are paid more.
If O?Malley and the state legislature want to help that vast majority, they must support structural reforms like school choice and lower taxes. Those reforms will help to spur new businesses and provide an educated work force to support them. The people of Maryland deserve more than symbolic reforms. For sure.
